Wednesday, June 30, 2004

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference."

Robert Frost (1874 - 1963), The Road Not Taken

Off to Jasper tomorrow, gonna see the mountains again. It's funny, I grew up on the flatlands of Alberta, where a summers day was hot and full of dusty wind, yet I never feel more at home than when I am in the mountains, feeling humbled by nature.

Media Watch, Part 1-- I was watching CBC and they were talking about the election results. They had a quick clip of Alberta, in particular Dave Rutherford, a talk radio DJ on 630 CHED. Rutherford is like the Rush Limbaugh of Alberta, right wing all the way, hell or high water. And the audio on the clip was a call-in guy whining about how Alberta is again left out in the federal cold because we vote with our grandfather's ideology for the Conservatives. And ths call in guy says "Maybe it is time to separate."

Now look, if that is what you believe, fine. If you honestly think that Alberta would be better off alone, with no access to ocean shipping or federal funding, so be it. You're an idiot, but fine. I was pissed that CBC decided to show this particular clip, as it really re-inforced the 'redneck' perception of Alberta. I'm sure the progressive Easterners who believe in the Canada Health Act/ Women's Right to Choose/ Gay & Lesbian Rights etc etc, laughed and thanked the sky that Alberta's mindset isn't reflected in the majority of Canadian hearts.

Media Watch, Part 2 -- On CNN today there was a byline on the bottom of the screen that caught my attention. It said, and I quote: "Supreme Surprise: Detainees Have Rights." This is referring to the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, these 'illegal combatants' who in almost 3 years of imprisonment, have yet to see a lawyer or get legal counsel. I dunno, the fact that the Supreme Court might actually find in favour of their Geneva Convention rights doesn't strike me as much of a surprise; indeed it seems self-evident. But I don't live in the States, thank Allah (peace be upon him), so maybe this decision is a surprise. Seems rather messed up coming from the government who talks so much about freedom and rights of all humanity, don't you think?

I'm going to read my book as I am feeling rather stressed out, tense. I'm reading "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time" by Mark Haddon, and it is really good. The protagonist is an autistic teenager, a point of view that is well-written and fascinating.

Have a great Canada Day long weekend and be thankful that for all the bitching and moaning about the election that we have heard over the past 6 weeks, we still do live in the greatest, safest, cleanest, and one of the most educated countries to ever have existed. Happy Birthday Canada.

A sovereign thought, delivered to your door at 8:57 PM ~~ 0 bonsai trees

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Tuesday, June 29, 2004

The first of the peer reviews for Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11, thoughtfully provided by the lovely and increasingly political Roxanne (aka Breanne aka Jeff's Boss)

So we went and saw Fahrenheit 9/11 and it was very
good. I found it to be very emotional and cried for
about a third of it and then at the end I felt a lot
of rage. I broke down outside of the theatre and
didn't speak really for the rest of the night. Of
course there is some bias in the film and somethings
aren't really discussed at all, but it did provoke a
lot of thought. There are some remarks about FOX news
and some stupid remarks from young Americans who
claim to listen to rap when they shoot down Iraqis.

Hope you don't mind that I posted this Breanne. Now you are famous. Blog famous. Only a few levels below "B" movie famous.

A sovereign thought, delivered to your door at 2:37 PM ~~ 0 bonsai trees

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Monday, June 28, 2004

"Politics is the skilled use of blunt objects." ~~ Lester B. Pearson (1897 - 1972)

As you might have suspected, Megan and I were glued to the TV on Monday night, watching the election results roll in. I'm writing this before everything is "officially" official, but it looks like the Liberals will form a minority government, the first minority government of my generation.

I was quite focused on the Alberta ridings, although I should already know how they are going to play out. Blue blue blue, damn near everything in Alberta is Tory. I wonder what it would be like to live in a riding (or province) that elected either Liberals or NDP, instead of mailing in a Tory vote? Alberta continues her goal of frustrating my political well-being.

My vote for Malcolm Azania (NDP) was for naught, as he was defeated by the Conservative, Rahim Jaffer, who you may remember sent an assistant to impersonate him on a radio program a few years ago. Anyway, my conscience is clear as I still ideologically agree with Azania. I think he has a future in activism, as he has already made a name for himself in the social conscience circles. But I do wonder if he would be more effective outside the established political system, perhaps as a leader of a NGO or more municipal level politics.

Now remember that minority governments, this one likely to be between the Liberals and the NDP, historically don't last very long. It seems to me that a well-managed, mutually-respective Liberal/NDP government might be quite healthy for democracy, a ying-yang kind of thing. I'll be watching to see if Jack Layton, who was so vehemently anti-Martin during the election, can tone it down and work constructively as the social conscience of the Liberals. I doubt it will last much beyond a year, but only Father Time will tell me that.

More to come as the fallout develops, stay tuned and stay in the shade. If you didn't vote, please offer a weak-ass excuse via the comments option. You will be skewered, rest assured of that. Consider yourself warned....

A sovereign thought, delivered to your door at 9:05 PM ~~ 0 bonsai trees

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Sunday, June 27, 2004

"Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet." ~~ Chinese Proverb

Oy vey, what a weekend. Friday night saw me & Al out discussing the world (local and international) over beers. It was one of our better beer nights. Saturday morning I worked from 5-9am, then came home for a snooze. I went out with Megan to Matt & Leslie's stag/stagette roundup at Dace's, which was pretty good. Crawled into bed around midnight. The drive was peaceful, Alberta was in her full 'big sky country' splendour and we were listening to David Francey. Felt like we should have just kept on driving forever.

Anyway, back to work on Sunday morning, although my boss was an hour and a bit late, making for one uphappy group of workers; workers who really could have used another hour of sleep. But we got things done on time. Then it was out for breakfast. One of the guys suggested the Nisku truckstop. Usually I steer clear of truckstop food as it has been known to kill people, but he said it was a buffet, super cheap and decent grub. All right.

He was wrong on 2 out of the 3. He was right on the buffet, but the food was crap. He figured the bill was gonna be about $7 each. Wow, not even close. $15.95 plus tip. Dammit, that took care of my spending money in a real hurry. Plus it was hardly the quality of food or atmosphere that demanded a $15 charge. Live and learn, won't be going back.

Now you are probably wondering why I went out for breakfast with a bunch of guys from work. It's because we had planned a paintball day for today, so we had some time to kill. Went out paintballing and I quickly found out that if a war were to ever involve me, it would only be for about 5 minutes, as I would soon be shot dead. I'm rather bad, and it doesn't help that I'm 6'2" and the only coveralls they had that fit where bright blue. I looked like a rather deranged Canadian Tire technician. But I did 'kill' a couple of guys, including my assistant manager, who I gunned down from about 15 feet. I also shot Andrew when he was already out of the game. I pleaded ignorance, but I think we all know the real truth.

Paintball made me think though. It's pretty high adrenaline as one is trying to avoid getting hit, as the paintballs hurt. But if I am 'killed' I wander over to the safe zone and wait until the game is over. Not like in real war. I think it is a small taste of the stress of true war, something I can barely comprehend. It amazes me that most men were able to come back from WW1 or WW2 with most of their mental capacities. I'm not sure I would be able to do that. I dunno, food for thought.

Anyway, I got home about 4pm and have been relaxing ever since. I must say this was a full weekend, but a good one. I'm gonna be tired and sore tomorrow morning, but it was rather satisfying to have to scrub some grass stains of my skin this afternoon. Don't live life like that much anymore...

Hey, if you are reading this, it's probably Monday, June 28 which means you'd better be voting. If you don't I will personally ship you off to Burma (or whatever it is called) and you can enjoy not having the right to vote. Capice?

Speaking of living life, the blog will be on hold for Thursday through Sunday of this week, as I (and some cohorts) are off to Jasper for some hiking. So sit tight and the blog will re-appear after I have conquered nature and won some money wrestling bears.

G'night mates

A sovereign thought, delivered to your door at 8:38 PM ~~ 0 bonsai trees

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